Old Friends and A New Toy

I have had a page on Facebook,

 under my real name not Dosie Rosie, for several years now.

My daughters set it up for me as

 It was the easiest way for me to keep in touch with my children

while they were travelling around the world.

I was more likely to get a message on Facebook from Asia

or South America than I was a phone

call and  if any of them even used Facebook 

I at least knew they were alright.

Now the children have settled down and certainly

 over the last 12 months, it has taken on 

a very different roll for both my husband and me.

When we moved from London over 20 years ago

we left behind lots of old friends and work colleagues

which, certainly for the first couple of years, I found very hard.

Then I found a group on facebook

which was affiliated to our old work and 

have found many old friends that I lost contact with 

many many years ago.

What is even stranger is that when you compare notes

you find so many coincidences and places when

we might have been in the same place at the same time.

Holidays taken just down the road from us, attending the same 

concert or in one case, also moving to Norfolk and living not far away.

We will be meeting up soon I hope.

So one of those faces I have seen and said to my husband

"they look familiar",  might indeed have been someone I went to school with

or worked with many years ago 

as it turns out it really is a small world.

  However,

seeing some of the old photos that people have put on

the site have caused great hilarity .

The new Toy? 

well I got a new camera for Christmas and the photos are

some of the pictures I have taken while trying to

get the hang of it.

Hope to see you on the 25th for my 

 Grow Your Own Blog post.

Gillxx

You Can't Help Acting on Impulse

I wonder how many of you out there remember those adverts

where the beautiful girl was presented with

flowers from the incredibly handsome stranger.

Of course the reality of the cheap body spray

never quite lived up to the fantasy did it.

How many times has that happened to you when you have 

bought something on the spur of the moment

only to get home and found you have made a mistake

or it wasn't quite as perfect as you thought it was going to be.

I'm always doing it with clothes.

Anyway Mr T and I were in Norwich a few weeks ago

when it suddenly occurred to us that we had all 3 children 

coming home for Christmas and only one spare bed. So, 

on impulse,we bought a new sofa bed then and there from John Lewis.

The idea being it could go into my workroom(my son's old bedroom)

turning it into an occasional bedroom.

When my son moved out I had moved my sewing machine in and 

not really done much else with it.

So before our new purchase arrived I decided I needed to decorate 

and reorganise my room. I also needed more storage.

After plain white emulsion on the walls.

I started with an old ottoman foot stool for the bedding.

Which I covered with some heavy grey linen I had stored

away in my stash. A bargain buy which I couldn't resist

knowing it would come in handy for something.

Then went to the local auction and bought an old

cupboard. 

 Painted Manor house Grey from Farrow and Ball

Filled with my fabric stash.

And

Decoupaged with some old french magazines

on the inside.

Then the sofa arrived. 

 It was bigger than 

I remembered  and we had a real panic 

that it wasn't going to fit up the stairs

as we hadn't checked the measurements.

We have a narrow and twisted staircase

and it was a close run thing but other than a 

small scratch to the on the wall it has been put in place.

With a cupboard stolen from another room for

my books  and magazines I have a new room.

My new organised and tidy (for now)

workroom/occasional bedroom is finished

and I love it.

Maybe I should act on impulse more often.

Gillx

September Scavenger Hunt

I'm a couple of days late this month but here are 

my photos for Septembers hunt run by Green Thumbs

at made with love.

So we start with

Disney

This is my little nieces drinking cup from the Disney Store

White

A single white Cosmos from the garden.

Tree

Also in my garden is my beautiful

Sweet Chestnut Tree.

Life on the beach

The beach huts at Wells-next-the Sea in Norfolk.

Repetition

Little boats all in a line at Morston Quay.

New

Saw this lovely old Pub sign for the Old New Inn

in Broughton on the Water while we were travelling

through the Cotswolds 

last week

Graffiti

This was in Frome in Somerset.

Really weird and wonderful

One

My brothers favourite shop, the model shop.  

Door Handle

These are on the cupboard in my lounge.

Ears

I've had this little chap since I was a child and 

I still love him and his long ears.

Lace

 My little piece of Honiton lace 

which my Granny told me was a family heirloom

I am researching my family history and found out

recently that my Grans Gran was a lace maker 

in Honiton so I hope this was one of her pieces.

I absolutely love it.

Tattoo

I really struggled with this one as no one in

my family has a tattoo and I so wasn't sure how to go about it.

Then decided to photograph the decal on my computer

which is like it's tattoo isn't it--sort of.

I can't seem to turn the picture the right way around either

so a bit of a di- ast- er all round really.

So time to find out this months list and start again.

See you soon

Gillxx

New Hall

I have been meaning to show you these photos for a while as,

other than putting up a few black and white photos on the

stairs, my hallway is finished at last.

we started trying out colours and stripping wallpaper

in about November last year but due to family circumstances

things moved a lot slower than we hoped.

But

the new carpets are down and we have finished.

The fabric was a remnant I got for a song and I love it.

I fell in love with this wallpaper and decided that white was the

best colour to go for.

It looks so much lighter.

We had new carpet in our bedroom as well

With all the furniture out the room looks so big.

Only the lounge to do now but neither of us can face that at the moment.

Gillx

Bunting Galore

On my post for last months "Monthly Make" I mentioned that I had made 50 plus metres of 

bunting, well in the end I made nearly 80 metres.

(I found wrapping it around these empty shoeboxes the best way to keep it tidy.)

Anyway this weekend it was time for the wedding it was made for.

It was a really busy weekend as the reception was in the garden 

of  my friend Carol who's niece was the bride and it was all hands on deck 

to get it all ready in time.

So Friday started with me raiding my garden for greenery to 

put into the table flower decorations.

Dozens of different sized jam jars with pretty gold flowers painted on

them were filled with yellow, white and orange flowers for the tables.

Loads of quiches were made for the vegetarians 

as the main food was a Hog roast.

My offering was a family favourite of Leek and Goats cheese (a Delia recipe).

Friends had been roped in to act as waitresses or 

Elves as they were called, my little one included.

They worked like trojans all day handing out

drinks and laying out the food.

It was then time to put up the decorations.

Patio first with some of the bunting

Around the tables being used as a bar goes the smaller version.

Ribbon flowers  tied into the bushes

Then into the Marquee where the cake made by

Carol had pride of place.

Each layer was a different cake mix

one chocolate, one plain sponge and one fruit cake.

More bunting and balloons( there were loads tied 

up outside as well)

All ready for the band ( Carols sons)

and the wishing well for cards

I absolutely loved the wedding car.

But poor Albie wasn't sure what was going on,

all these people and nobody would play frisbee with him.

I have to say it was one of the nicest weddings I have been to for a long time

I think possibly because it was all so personal and of course

it was all worth it just to see how happy this beautiful

young lady was.

Gillxx